With outdoor temperatures rising and an election coming up in the fall, state Rep. Jeff Mayes can’t go wrong calling on Washington to make more funds available to keep an eye on water quality at Michigan’s beaches.

Still, we applaud his request.

If not for the diligence and occasional cage rattling of local folks, we get the feeling Washington wouldn’t pay our region much mind at all.

As it is, the feds have spent years foot-dragging on the Great Lakes in general. Now, after decades of pollution and the introduction of nonnative aquatic life, this vast natural resource, which supplies drinking water to some 40 million people, is teetering at the point of no return, according to researchers.

The Saginaw Bay is a case in point.

In 1987, the Saginaw Bay area was designated as a federal Area of Concern, one of 14 such sites in Michigan, because of its poor water quality.

Last summer, researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration discovered a “dead zone” in the bay.

That means exactly what the name implies. It’s dead. It has little or no oxygen, so it cannot support fish or other aquatic life.

Yet when it came time in March to dole out the first round of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants in Michigan, the Saginaw Bay came away empty-handed.

A project in Lake Superior, arguably the most pristine body of water in the Great Lakes chain, wound up with $1.7 million.

We’re still hopeful our region will get a decent-sized piece of the restoration fund pie, but we’re frustrated, too.

The Saginaw Bay is in dire need of attention. Muck from algae is fouling our beaches and the overall water contamination is well-documented.

Individual, local efforts have shown progress and provided hope. Indeed, Bay County folks have been leaders in seeking answers and solutions when it comes to such things as banning phosphates, beach cleanups and testing that muck.

But why must our area go it alone? Why can’t there be a better coordination at local, state and federal levels for a more targeted approach? Wouldn’t that be more efficient?

Why do elected leaders and agency heads always have to shake the bushes for more federal funding when, quite frankly, the money is there, or should be, and should be ready for allocation?

Take the funding Mayes is after. It would come from the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act that Congress passed a decade ago.

The money is intended to help out with state and local

efforts to monitor water quality near coastal beaches. The public is then informed of potential problems, such as high bacteria counts, etc.

Mayes, in his press release, contends Congress has appropriated only $10 million for the program, which is authorized for up to $30 million.

The U.S. House voted last July to reauthorize the BEACH Act and up the annual grant levels from $30 million to $40 million. The Senate has yet to act.

We call on U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow to lead the charge in the Senate and get this thing passed.

Michigan’s lakes and beaches, including those in our region, need that money.

Tourism is a multibillion dollar industry in our state. Our lakes are one of the biggest draws for both residents and out-of-staters. Locally, the bay is a Mecca for anglers, boaters and beach-goers.

The bay also is a microcosm of the problems that exist to varying degrees throughout the Great Lakes chain.

Why not make it a laboratory, a testing site for processes?

Whatever it takes to get federal dollars spent here in a meaningful and effective way, and to get leaders at every level to work in concert to save the bay and the lakes.